Do you think some top appointed Republican political leaders might go so far as to push giving Social Security Beneficiaries their premiums in checks to shop for insurance so that the GOP can give the money to the wealthiest to help pay for their cadillac insurance plans?

Ryan is considered a "genius" when compared to the rest of the idiots in his party, sort of "in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king," only it's "in the land of those born without eyes, the blind man who kind of remembers once not being blind is king."

If anything is to be learned from "The Bitter Pill" piece in Time, it is that Medicare, or something like it, is our best chance of reducing our national health costs. Whatever reductions in costs insurance companies are able to extract from providers pale in comparison to what Medicare does. Add in marketing costs, profits, additional administrative fees and Ryan is looking to very significantly raise America's health care expense.

Instead we should be looking at allowing those 60 and older to "buy in" to Medicare. Find out what it would cost per person to cover that age group and allow people to be covered- A, B, and D at a price slightly higher than the cost. That would help stabilize Medicare with a little profit, and would allow folks to purchase coverage at a rate much lower than what they pay for health insurance from the private sector. Win/win- except for certain gouging health care providers. If it is successful, move the age back to 55.

We need more discussion of the Time article which makes it crystal clear that Medicare is not the problem of health care costs. It is at least a large part of the solution.

The problem with health care is costs, over charging, and out right fraud. Without a large, powerful group like Medicare, American consumers get ripped off by powerful medical institutions.

Another thing that is missing from the discussion is how much current Medicare recipients are paying into the system out of our SS. I pay $105.00 a month for my Part B coverage. That is $1260.00 per year, way more than I am using, because I have the audacity to be healthy at 72. I do not have Part D because I do not take prescription drugs. Someone please add up how much seniors are paying into the system every year and what that contributes to paying for Medicare.

When the majority of the hospital chains, even the supposedly nonprofit ones, are in reality for profit, then you have a problem. Even the catholic charity hospitals make excessive amounts of money that then go into multimillion dollar salaries for their CEO's and for the CC. Not having stockholders doesn't mean that you are then charging at a reasonable level.

Steve, we already "buy" or have bought into Medicare with deductions from our paychecks...so that solution doesn't wash!! Social Security and Medicare were raided by the "W" Bush administration to go to war, leaving an IOU. Now that the IOU is due and payable, it seems the Republicans are hell bent on getting rid of it instead of paying back the money that the American Tax Payer already paid into it!!!!

Did Ryan ever research this and why are there no details released. For instance how much would the Voucher be? Would it be based similar to Social Security, on your income earned over the years? When I lost my job because health issues and after Cobra ended, trying to find an insurance company that would accept me was almost impossible. When I finally found one the cost was $1,208/month and my SS income was $1,500/mo. So how much would my voucher be and would it cover 10% or 30% or 50%. Can Ryan do basic math?

Just looking at his "hang dog" face makes me want to puke!

I think Republican elected leaders need their own luncheon with their top appointed Republican political House and Senate leaders. Republican Minority Senate Leader, Mitch Mc Connell campaigned on closing some loopholes but let the automatic sequester proposals go through to avoid and hide the fact that the GOP does not want to close any loopholes. The House Republican appointed leader, John Boehner, said he does not want to raise revenue and taxes when some Republican leaders have voiced approval of raising some revenue.

Let's hope the next time Dear Leader has them over for lunch to continue his pathological chase of a "grand bargain", he stops using the words "Chained C.P.I." As Chris Wallace said to Ryan yesterday about chopping Obamacare, "That's not gonna happen."

I have never understood why the media touts Paul Ryan as either smart or a genius. I have seen no evidence of either. I see Ryan as a misguided ideologue, an egotist, a driven man who may not even be mentally balanced.

Frankly, Ryan sounds unbalanced to me and always has. I think it is Paul Ryan who perpetuates the myth that he is smart. Are we so naive as to buy the story that because someone reads Ayn Rand they are smart? Compared to whom? Rick Perry?

Ayn Rand was a self centered, atheistic, narcissistic little anarchist. When it came to her skill as a writer, she was no Dostoevsky either. She was certainly not someone you'd use as a good moral compass, that's for damn sure! She was virtually amoral!

When it comes to Paul Ryan, he is no Robert Reich either. Ryan's economic plan would bankrupt the country, economically and morally.

I remember The President saying that he would be willing to look at the more affluent paying a little more towards Medicare, but I do not know if that meant in Medicare Taxes or in out-of-pocket costs. I know the Democratic Congress proposed a slightly higher Medicare Tax for the affluent in their health care proposals, like a tenth of a percentage, but I do not know if it passed in the Affordable Care Act (Obama Care).

I think if the more affluent pay more in Medicare Taxes, they should be entitled to the same benefits as everyone else. After all, these are entitlement programs.

I do not like the way both major parties political leaders lump State funded and partially Federally funded Medicaid, programs, which taxpayers do not pay separate taxes for, together with Medicare and Social Security, which the public does pay separate taxes for. It would seem to me that federal taxpaying Social Security and Medicare beneficiaries are ‘legally’ entitled to benefits, even if the government has to borrow money to meet its obligation to the programs, where State Medicaid Beneficiaries, are only legally entitled if they qualify for what funds the government grants the programs.

@Frank -- Social Security (OASDI) and Medicare trust funds have been posting a surplus for 30+ years. The only fix they need will be to adjust SS and Medicare taxes upwards when the funds stop having a surplus.

Yes, Ronald. I view the Medicare standing in the news as much more of a political problem between both major political parties than a funding problem could ever be. I think that is why Democratic leader do not seem to be as alarmed about any future Medicare crisis as Republican leaders do.

I mean, the top appointed Republican House and Senate leaders are using Medicare cuts as an aggressive bargaining chip with Democratic leaders, so that the GOP does not have to compromise too much on rolling back loopholes. Let's face it, there is not much Democratic leaders could threaten to cut that Republican leaders would care about to get them to compromise, so it is like Democratic leaders are 'letting' Republican leaders use Medicare cuts as a compromising wedge between the two parties.

Do you think that the American Public needs an Independent Committee watchdog to watch what the government of both parties does with those surpluses on behalf of the taxpayers? Perhaps a committee made up of Independent Party Congress people. Perhaps that could be in the Democratic Party's interest.

exactly!!!!!!

We need means testing of both Medicare and social security. That would help the deficit. Neither program was instituted to succor the wealthy. They were instituted to being seniors out of terrible poverty. They are wonderful programs for the average working person. The rich do not need a SS check every month, and can afford to pay more for their Medicare benefits.

We need to raise the payroll tax cap to $500,000.00, not $100,000.00 a year. Why does that revenue burden fall on people making UNDER $100,000.00 a year?

Frank: See my post above about Medicare Part B payments. I will repeat: I pay $105.00 a month out of my SS for my Medicare Part B. I do not get Part D because I am very healthy and do not take any prescription drugs. I would like to know how much money is going into the Medicare trust fund each month from seniors with Part B.

All of this is about politics and not finances. Neither Medicare nor SS is part of the larger budget deficit problem.

It would appear that we do need some sort of oversight group, although AARP and Nation Committee for Preserve SS and Medicare are advocacy groups. Both are non-governmental groups funded by membership donations.

India- the problem with requiring means testing for SS and Medicare is that doing so would turn both of them into welfare programs, not earned benefits. Somewhere, sometime, those controlling the means testing would be imposing stricter requirements to receive the money. In times of economic hardship there would be strong pressure brought to bear on how much someone could make to qualify for SS and Medicare.

If we raise the payroll tax from $105,000 to $500,000, then all those contributing deserve to collect when they retire. Even now, it is your choice to accept or decline your SS and Medicare benefits ( and the very wealthy probably would rather keep their "golden" insurance packages). There is a cap on the amount that you can receive, no matter how much you have put into the system. I wonder if Bill Gates will collect his SS when the time comes?

Well I know that Romney did not agree with everything in the Ryan Budget, which made some people question why he chose him as his running mate.

Perhaps the Romney Campaign viewed choosing Paul Ryan as his running mate as using Ryan’s Medicare plan for impeachment ‘insurance’!

I doubt he was even Romney's choice. Once he was chosen, the two of them seemed eager to part ways. They were far from soul mates.

Romney did not get my vote or the votes of most of my senior citizen neighbors. I think he only got the old angry white men, many of whom are wealthy.

bflynch,

Safe to say Romney didn't get the 47% vote. LOL

Perhaps Republican leaders are so desperate for new ideas other than tax breaks and loopholes, they would grasp at any other ideas from any Republican leader.

Day,#5

How true that is! LOL

That's the perfect description of why they seem to think Ryan is smart!

Well, I do not know where Congressman Ryan got his information on the senior vote. Perhaps he got that information from some top GOP leaders who still have an underlying plan to destroy, or privatize, Medicare. Some GOP leader’s agenda is to push our multi-hundred-billion Medicare Fund to circulate more through the economy, through private insurance companies, instead of pushing funds directly through health care agencies for services, as the program does currently. Perhaps some leaders or insurance organizations see encouraging Mr. Ryan on his Medicare plan as a way to accomplish that end goal.

I assure you, Ryan’s Medicare plan did not win the senior vote, alone, even if the Republican Party might have won the senior vote, which I doubt. In the last election, not all Republican seniors may have voted as a way to oppose the Ryan plan.

Just checked the transcript of Ryan's interview. Obviously he explained how a voucher works. But nary a word on how "premium support" is different. Because it's not.

Largenose #6

Yeah, had they won, once those folks who voted for them did get old, they'd nail Ryan and Robme to a cross. Together.

I like the concept . Three dimensional chess.

also too as well " worthless turd"

Somehow, Ryan has moved into a reality all his own. He and about three other Americans like his "plan" to bankrupt the country. None of these three would be affected by the Great Plan, as they are all three millionaires.

These people live in the twiright zone.

Definitely not!

Not me. See the Time article, "Why Medical Bills are Killing Us." Medicare is the solution, not the problem.

Actually, he's making himself look like an idiot.

That's the thing about idiots; they never realize they already look like idiots, so they keep on trying...

Pretty rotten hay. My horse would not eat it; what makes him think I will?

Ron: I'm 53 this week, and laden with a terrible degenerative disease. This is much more than simply an insult to me, it's everything. Ryan is the face of evil to me, a man who won't fulfill the promise of coverage that will protect my assets or my health...

dreaded spiceweasel...

Sorry if I offended idiots worldwide. Sometimes, like a lot of old white men, when I am angry I am not politically correct.

Lebowsky, I know a lot of seniors and near seniors who lost their life savings in the Great Recession. For them the choice won't be prescription drugs or cat food, it will be medical care or some place to live.

I am 72. I lost much of what I had put aside for retirement when I got laid off in 1990 from my defense contractor job, three months after the Berlin wall came down. I got another job at a pharmaceutical company that lasted 9 months. I got laid off one week before I turned 50. It is very hard to get a job after age 50, partly because younger workers have less experience and are cheaper and cost less in benefits.

I had to cash out such things as my life insurance policies and all my savings in order to buy three acres of land and an old mobile home, both of which I paid cash for, in order to keep from losing everything and becoming homeless.

After working for six years as a part-time hostess at a restaurant, I managed to get a job as a secretary for a lawyer. Six years ago I had recovered enough in savings and reached 65 so that I could get my full SS, small company pension and Medicare, I was able to build a decent house that is very energy efficient. I did not retire until I was 67. I also have a small organic vegetable business in the summers which supplements my SS.

I am very lucky that I am very healthy and although I pay for Part B I do not ever use all that I pay in.

I sympathize with those of you who are going through what I went through in the 1990s, and I will do everything in my power to oppose any changes to SS or Medicare that will make it harder for those of you who are less fortunate than I.

Throw in the "non" profit hospitals who are doing super well, expanding and not paying any taxes because of their non profit status. Our own hospital is expanding again with donations from the community and forced donations from their staff members. It is an ugly situation and a single payer system would solve a lot of our health care woes but the Republicans will fight that to the death.

Ryan can call it "premium support" or "voucher"; it makes no difference. But henceforth we should call it "Couponcare" and make the tag stick to Ryan and the Republicans. It conjures up the worst vision for every senior--eating cat food and cutting out coupons to make ends meet.

Solavox, Here you can go through this and figure out his thinking behind his "Plan's": http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00004357

Solavox - I think it's all of what you've written: he's sold his soul (if he had one) to medical companies, he doesn't really give a dayum about working Americans, and yes, he's an idiot. But he's a white male and the media lavish praise on the ignorant.

Tell that to sheeple like Blankman....

What's sad is that those doing the most harm to our nation are those who have gained the most from her.